Asian Tour regulars spice up Match play

Miguel Tabuena —ASIAN TOUR PHOTO

Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que, together with fellow Asian Tour campaigners Justin Quiban and LJ Go not only add depth to the ICTSI The Country Club Match Play Invitational field starting Nov. 21 but loom as some of the players to beat.

Taking a break from the region’s top tour, the quartet has signed up to be in the 32-man field for the P2 million event at the wind-swept layout south of Manila, with Tabuena and Que rated highly owing to recent form.

Jonel Ababa, the former National Caddies Open champion, will be the top seed after ruling the Order of Merit (OOM) race for the first time. Where Tabuena, Que, Quiban and Go will wind up in the draw could ultimately spell danger to anyone who will wind up opposite their names in the first round.

Antonio Lascuña will be the second seed, with Reymon Jaraula taking over the No. 3 spot with Clyde Mondilla begging off to be in Japan for the qualifying series there that will run on the same week.

Also to be disputed that week will be the P1.5 million ladies’ championship that starts on Nov. 22. Only the top 16 players in the OOM have been invited.

Tabuena won in the Asian Tour’s India stop earlier in the year and is one of the very few players who can handle the enormous 7,300-plus yards of The Country Club.

Lascuña won this event last year at Villamor but is not giving himself much of a chance to make it deep because of the sheer distance of the layout.